Skip to main content

How to install search engine

Search extension supports a few search engine types. Use the steps below to install the required one.

Elastic engine installation​

Elastic Search engine is a distributed RESTful search and analytics engine capable of solving a growing number of use cases, written on Java so it can be run virtually anywhere. It is best used for stores with more than 50k of products and/or support of Layered Navigation.

For Magento 2.4.x ElasticSearch 7 or ElasticSearch 8 (since v. 2.4.6) can be used.

  1. If Elastic engine is not installed on your server you should install it using Adobe installation guide.

  2. If you would like to use ElasticSearch 8 first install the core module Magento elasticsearch-8 using command below:

    composer require magento/module-elasticsearch-8 --with-all-dependencies

  3. Change id_field_data in Elasticsearch 8 as described in Magento documentations.

    If you want to install Elasticsearch 8 on different platforms (Linux, MacOS, Windows or Docker container) themselves, use the Installing Elasticsearch guide.

  4. After engine installation go to Stores -> Configuration -> Catalog -> Catalog -> Catalog Search, check and change if needed the following configurations:

    • Search Engine
    • Elasticsearch Server Hostname
    • Elasticsearch Index Prefix
    • Enable Elasticsearch HTTP Auth (if Yes - Elasticsearch HTTP Username, Elasticsearch HTTP Password, Elasticsearch Server Timeout)

    In case you have multiple Magento installations that use the same Elasticsearch instance, please ensure that the Index Prefix value is different for each of them. If the same prefix is used, the same index name will be created and shared across all Magento instances (for example, the product index might have the same name, such as magento_product_1_v1). As a result, during the reindex process, data from staging, for example, will be stored in the same Elasticsearch index as data from production.

  5. After configurations check, run reindex.

  6. Check the search engine status in the Search engine configuration section.

Singular/Plural search: how it works?​

Our search extension supports singular and plural search out of the box for the EN, NL, RU locales. If you need to add support for other languages, use lang analyzer technology to customize your Elastic search for the appropriate language.

tip

For the Sphinx engine, use the version with Stemmer support (for language-specific morphology).

Open Search installation​

OpenSearch is a compatible fork of ElasticSearch. The support for this search engine type was added in Magento v.2.4.4.

  1. Before installation check OpenSearch version requirements.

  2. Install Open Search on your server (Debian, Windows or Docker container) themselves, use the Installing OpenSearch guide

  3. After engine installation go to Stores -> Configuration -> Catalog -> Catalog -> Catalog Search, check and change if needed the following configurations:

    • Search Engine
    • Elasticsearch Server Hostname
    • Elasticsearch Index Prefix
    • Enable Elasticsearch HTTP Auth (if Yes - Elasticsearch HTTP Username, Elasticsearch HTTP Password, Elasticsearch Server Timeout)

    In case you have multiple Magento installations that use the same OpenSearch instance, please ensure that the Index Prefix value is different for each of them. If the same prefix is used, the same index name will be created and shared across all Magento instances (for example, the product index might have the same name, such as magento_product_1_v1). As a result, during the reindex process, data from staging, for example, will be stored in the same OpenSearch index as data from production.

  4. After configurations check, run reindex.

  5. Check the search engine status in the Search engine configuration section.

MySQL​

MySQL search engine mode does not require the installation of Elasticsearch or Sphinx Search on your server, but you will still receive the same features as with the other engines.

However, you may experience a slower search speed than with the Elastic/Sphinx engines. This engine is applicable for small catalogs, or if your server doesn't allow the installation of Elasticsearch or Sphinx Search.

Sphinx engine​

Sphinx installation​

Installation includes a set of actions that should be performed under root privileges.

warning

The minimum supported Sphinx engine version is 2.2.x, 3.x.

Actions can differ depending on the selected platform:

Execute the following command from console/SSH under root privileges:

sudo apt-get install sphinxsearch

To fully enable your new search engine, perform a full reindex of the Sphinx Engine indexes. Afterward, connect it to our Search extension.

Connect with Sphinx engine​

The settings vary depending on whether Sphinx is installed on the same server as the store or on a separate server.

  1. Go to System -> Search Management -> Configuration -> Search ultimate and proceed to Search engine configuration.

  2. In the field Search engine type select Sphinx search option, and fill in the following fields:

    • Sphinx server hostname
    • Sphinx server port
    • Sphinx installed on the same server set Yes
    • Sphinx daemon path: if searchd is not configured in shell paths on your server, here you need to enter the full path to searchd (ex. /usr/local/bin/)
    • Enable automatic Sphinx startup set Yes

  3. Tune up your Search daemon, using extended options in Sphinx customizations subsection if needed.

  4. Save and click Reset,then Restart Sphinx daemon.

  5. Run the following command to reindex search indexes:

        php -f bin/magento indexer:reindex catalogsearch_fulltext

If you receive "unknown column" error during Sphinx reindex​

If you receive this error during Sphinx reindexing follow these steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Click Reset in Search Engine Configuration (backend)
  2. Click Restart Sphinx daemon in Search Engine Configuration (backend)
  3. Reindex Search indexes in System -> Search Management -> Search Indexes (backend) or run command below via SSH: 
       bin/magento indexer:reindex catalogsearch_fulltext